North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Brandy Barrel

Formerly brewed at North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Fort Bragg, California USA

draft at Uber - one of the long lost kegs made its way to Seattle; pours dark reddish brown; mostly clear with huge off-white head; the barrel is very muted and flavors very sweet and mainly of candy; maybe better from the bottle b/c this was pretty unimpressive and I would not have known I was drinking the brandy barrel old stock unless I was told

7/15/09 Update: OK, now properly sampled and rated via the bottle; dark amber and clear; super sweet nose of candy, apples, sherry, wood and brandy; wow, easily preferred in a side by side over the bourbon; a little hot, but lots of sugary, brandy sweetness; wonderfully aged with sweet apples the dominant feature; killer brew; rating increased from 3.5

Aroma is very candy sweet with a light booziness too. Some apple, cognac perhaps as well. Pours dark amber with a fantastic head. Very malty and sweet with lots of caramel, toffee, ripe fruits. Vanilla, some sweet brandy. Perhaps a touch of dry earthy hops, or is that the oak? A total malt bomb with light barrel aged hints. The carbonation is almost flat, but for almost 15% this one is super smooth. Becomes earthier as it warms.

Clear dark bronze with a quickly fading head. Oak, cherry, caramel and figs in the nose - very nice. Flavor has notes of caramel, dates, figs, pipe tobacco, wood, molasses, tinge of chocolate, pleasant alcohol character and earthy hops. Enjoyable sweetness level. Full, round and creamy with moderate carbonation. Excellent.

Corked and caged bottle poured into a Old Stock snifter hazy dark brown with copper highlights and a small lingering amber head. Aromas of brandy, carmel, plum, dates, oak, pepper and light vanilla. Palate was medium to full bodied and smooth with a lightly warming finish. Flavors of brandy, dates, plum, vanilla, carmel, pepper and light oak with a smooth warming lingering brandy finish.

Bottle courtesy of Solomon420 poured into a snifter. Pours a hazy caramel brown with amber showing through. The head was surprisingly active given the age and bubbled up to a one inch tan head before quickly receding to a thin ring. The aroma is unbelievable. It starts with the brandy but then opens up to dark fruits with raisins and figs mainly and tons of caramel and brown sugar sweetness. There are hints of vanilla and wood as well. The taste is just as spectacular with a huge sugary caramel sweetness of the base beer that underpins everything else. The dark fruits are complemented by hints of vanilla, toffee and chocolate with wood and brandy in the finish. The mouthfeel is very smooth with good carbonation and has a dry boozy finish. This is a great, great beer and very drinkable for the ABV. Certainly one of the best beers I’ve ever had. Can’t thank Damian enough for this rare gem.

2005 bottle. Very deep dark brown beer with a very thin tan head. Aroma is really big. Lots of sweet rich brandy character. Soft orangey flavour, and some soft cascadey sweetness. Really rich and quite boozy with a kiss of cherry character. Lightly oxidized malt sweetn. As it warms the booziness falls back and gives off a lovely rich sweet maltiness. Soft and slightly tropical with a kiss of apricot. A touch of mintiness on the back. Rich, woody/oaky finish. Very soft and delicate yet big and brawny at the same time. Just an incredible barley wine.

Bottle from Amorphiss. Dark mahogany color with tan head that disapear quickly. Strong aroma of molasse at first with lots of alcohol. If you let it sit for a few seconds the aroma gets a lot more complex with caramel, vanilla plums and figs. I was expecting this beer to be a lot more sweet but it isn’t and was a little disapointed. Actually the sweetness is may not be the problem, I feel the alcohol is just too much and make this barley wine a little out of balance. Though you have that same complexity en bouche with the caramel, plums,and figs which I really like. Thanks Peter!

Bottle 2005: (Shared by JoeMcPhee) Pours a ruby/rusty maroon color with hardly any head. (Not surprising with that high on an ABV) Gigantic aroma. Hugely sweet with apparent brandy character coming through- lots of vanilla, peppery/tingling alcohol, honey, candied fig and prune. Mouthfeel is slick, with much less alcohol apparency than anticipated, based on the ABV and aroma. Sweet brandy notes in the flavor, lots of honey soaked dark fruits- fig, raisin, prune, and vanilla with a later toasted malt character that linger into the finish. A massive beer, that gained lots of sweetness from the barrel, yet some subtly is detectable. Not really my style, but impressively drinkable for it’s stature.